Play A Simple Melody (Birthday)
Music & words by Irving Berlin(1888-1989) from "Watch Your Step," 1914. One of the earliest of Berlin's trademark counterpoint songs, 2 melodies sung separately, then simultaneously as a duet.
Roses Of Picardy (Birthday)
Music by Haydn Wood, lyrics by Fred Weatherly, 1916. Hugely popular ballad during WWI. Weatherly also penned "Danny Boy" and "The Holy City."
Simple Gifts (Birthday/Anyone)
Birthday wishes courtesy of early Americana. Music and words composed in 1848 by Maine Shaker Elder Joseph Brackett (1797-1882). The song first reached audiences outside the Shaker communities through Aaron Copland's use of it in Martha Graham's 1944 ballet "Appalachian Spring."
Smiles (Birthday)
Happy Birthday wishes from our 4-footed friends. Music by Lee S. Roberts, lyrics by J. Will Callahan, 1917.
You Made Me Love You (Birthday)
Music by James V. Monaco, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, 1913. One of the early standards making the transition from the "hearts & flowers" of Victorian/Edwardian songwriting to modern, post- WWI American Popular Song. A Jolson perennial, memorably sung on film by a very young Judy Garland to a photo of Clark Gable.
Copyright © 2006-2024 Fred Miller